Yesterday I heard Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University, speak about global warming on Minnesota Public Radio. Oppenheimer is a lead author of the recent “Fourth Assessment Report” from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It was a sobering talk, and I strongly recommend that people listen to it. Oppenheimer was unequivocal in stating that global climate change is the leading environmental problem of our time. He said that if the planet warms at the higher end of estimates - that is, if it warms a lot - the results would be very catastrophic in terms of lost water resources, higher sea levels, and other effects.

One comment from Oppenheimer particularly caught my attention, and I will paraphrase it from memory: When asked about the “controversy” regarding climate change among scientists, Oppenheimer said that there are about 2000 climate experts in the world, and he only knew of about 5 who think that human-induced climate change is not a serious problem confronting humanity.

Think about that the next time a climate change skeptic quotes one or two scientists to back up his or her argument. Good science is not determined via consensus or vote, but I’d still put more trust in the opinion of 99 percent of experts than I would in a tiny minority of contrarians.

I’m happy to say that the City of Northfield, Minnesota, has created a nonmotorized transportation task force, which will exist for one year. The city council approved the resolution creating the task force (2007-051) on Monday, May 7, and the Park and Recreation Advisory Board approved 10 members the next evening. To see the text of the resolution, go to the city council packet for May 7, and see pages 23 and 24.

The task force members include myself, Bruce Anderson, Anne Bretts, Kirsten Cahoon, Dan Kust, Neil Lutsky, Randy Perkins, John Stull, Richard Vanasek, and Peter Waskiw. While some members identify themselves simply as interested citizens, others represent groups and organizations such as RENew Northfield, Northfield Public Schools, Northfield Rotary, the Park Board, St. Olaf College, Carleton College, and the Mill Towns State Trail. One interested citizen is an employee of the Minnesota Department of Transportation, another works for northfield.org, and one, John Stull, is a former mayor of Northfield. We do not as yet have members from neighboring communities such as Dundas and Bridgewater, though we hope that will change.

Here are the mission and goals of the task force, quoted from the resolution: Read the rest of this entry »

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued its third report of the year, this one titled “Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change (Summary for Policymakers).” It mentions reduced driving and the use of “non-motorised transportation” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; it also makes reference to sustainable development and land use policies.

Andrew C. Revkin of the New York Times is one good journalist to read on the topic of climate change. See his article on this current IPCC report and his April 7 article on an earlier report. Here is what Revkin writes about the IPCC reports issued this year:

This is the third report this year from the climate panel, which was formed under the auspices of the United Nations in 1988 to brief nations periodically on risks from human and natural changes in climate and options for limiting dangers.

In February, one team of experts concluded with near certainty that most warming since 1950 has been driven by the rising concentrations in the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

A second working group reported last month that the warming trend was already measurably shifting weather, water and ecological patterns, and that hundreds of millions of people faced risks by mid-century ranging from lost water supplies to inundated coasts should trends persist.

The April summary, “Climate Change 2007: Impact, Adaptation, and Vulnerability (Summary for Policymakers), as well as the current report are all part of what’s called the Fourth Assessment Report from the IPCC. See the Wikipedia article on the Fourth Assessment Report for a good overview.

What the vast majority of scientists have to say continues to capture the attention of the planet. And what they have to say isn’t good: global warming will affect the planet in a massive way. Low-lying areas will be inundated by rising sea levels, water resources will be negatively affected in many areas, and humanity will have to endure huge costs to adapt to this relatively rapid warming of the planet.

On Sunday, April 22, Earth Day, I went to Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, to hear a talk by Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives (TA) in New York City. Young, charismatic, and energetic, White is a national leader on issues related to getting us out of our cars and using transit, bikes, and our own feet.

His talk was titled “Reclaiming Urban Public Space to Lessen Environmental Impacts and Maximize Human Happiness.” He began by discussing the environmental advantages of densely populated urban environments, then declaring his interest in our streets, “the spaces between our buildings.” Only recently have streets been given over to cars, he said.  Read the rest of this entry »

In looking up Transportation Alternatives, I came across their “Green Transportation Hierarchy.” Pretty cool. Spread the word.

Here’s the “green” version that I found, which is smaller and harder to read:

Celebrate Earth Day, Sunday, April 22, by attending a panel discussion on how to make cities more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly. Paul Steely White, Executive Director of New York City’s Transportation Alternatives, will join Steve Clark and others for an expert panel presentation at Macalester College.

Here is the notice from the Macalester events calendar:

Sunday, April 22, 1:30 PM Earth Week Bicycle Activist Panel
1:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Weyerhaeuser Memorial Chapel
MacBIKE celebrates Earth Week with 5 speakers: Paul White, director of New York City’s Transportation Alternatives, will speak on a panel with bicycle activists from around the Twin Cities. Presentation and discussions will highlight the steps necessary to build a bike-friendly city.

On Saturday, April 14, 16 people in Northfield, Minnesota, participated in Step It Up 2007, a “Global Warming Day of Action” organized nationally by the Sierra Club. After gathering in the Northfield High School parking lot (top picture) at noon, participants climbed on 13 bikes and rode down Division Street to the Northfield Public Library. Two children rode in child carriers and Andy Alt joined Charley Skinner on Charley’s Blackbird “quadribent” dual recumbent.

I participated with my wife and daughter. As we rode down Division Street, many of us rang our bicycle bells, making delightful music.

At the library (bottom picture), participants signed letters urging four Minnesota leaders to take action to mitigate global warming: U.S. Senators Coleman and Klobuchar, U.S. Representative John Kline, and Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Thanks to Grant Dobbe and Andy Alt for organizing the Northfield event.

On March 7 the Star Tribune published a good article by reporter Laurie Blake entitled “Movement grows to get us out of our cars.” Here are the opening paragraphs

With hundreds of miles of off-road trails, Minnesota is already a national leader in recreational biking and walking. But that is no longer enough.

Concerned about obesity and worried about higher gasoline prices and global warming, people are pushing for more day-to-day walking and biking options.

Community workshops on strategies for making it safer and more inviting to walk or bike are drawing some of the largest crowds in the country. A few developments friendly to walking and biking have been built in the past five years.

Now two new programs will aim millions of dollars at getting Twin Cities residents out of their cars. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most important news items this past month, in my opinion, was the February 2 release of a report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This was the panel’s fourth report. Here is an overview of the report’s conclusions from the Wikipedia entry on the IPCC: Read the rest of this entry »

I haven’t written much about my own faith in this blog. In part that comes from me being respectful of the diversity of readers out there, but it also arises from my own lack of experience and uncomfortability in speaking about my faith and an awkwardness in doing so in our multicultural, largely secular culture. To speak about Christianity is to broach a fraught subject; it also means using a discourse that has often been misused, one that many people cannot listen to without hearing chords of self-righteous judgment and even bigotry. Read the rest of this entry »